Years ago when our children were very young, they all started playing soccer with Park & Rec. With our first, my husband learned how to coach and he progressed in his expertise until he was certified in many different types of coaching styles and became the State of Oregon Girl's Soccer Coach of the Year, winning many tournaments and state championships. I was his inexperienced assistant so while he was away coaching one of our older sons in competitive ball, I was the go-to with our youngest - our daughter - when he wasn't available on the weekends to run the Park & Rec game.
With Park & Rec, many children of different levels of athleticism and experience are put on the same team and the goal is (at least should be) for every child to have fun and have an equal opportunity to play the same as every other, regardless of their giftedness. A good coach will recognize that "winning" the game shouldn't be the goal of Park & Rec but rather the individual development of each child and their enjoyment of being part of a group which grows and gets better as the season progresses. Regardless of each child's ability, my husband always taught his teams to play "as" a team and emphasized basic skills which enabled the children to recognize team members and pass, dribble and really learn the game and have fun doing it.
I will never forget the last game of the season when my daughter was in second grade. Near the end of the game, one of our more talented girls was fouled which gave her the chance to score on a direct kick. Rather than taking the kick herself, she gave the opportunity to one of our least talented girls who had never scored a goal the entire season. Markie took the kick and scored. I still remember the joy on her face and the face of her parents when this happened. No one told the girl who gave up the kick to do this, but her act of kindness and recognition of her team member was such that it made a difference to Markie in what we call a "Park & Rec moment" where an unlikely child has a chance to shine.
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